A new report from London-based investment advisory ShareAction has called on investors to use their voting rights to urge banks to play a more proactive role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, by “providing the major injections of capital required to finance technologies, infrastructure and the transition of traditional industries, as well as to cover the costs of adaptation.” Figures from the International Energy Agency estimate that $359 trillion worth of investment is required by 2050 to ensure the world avoids global warming exceeding 2°C.

The Seafood Slavery Risk Tool — created in partnership with Liberty Asia, Seafish and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) — produces a rating indicating the likelihood that human rights violations are occurring on fishing boats in a specific fishery. Organizations can use the tool to identify seafood sourced from fisheries that have these issues and take steps to address them.

Target, Esprit, New Balance, PUMA, Gap Inc., and Inditex are now publicly linked to their suppliers’ environmental performance through the IPE Green Supply Chain Map.Each brand shares a list of known facilities with IPE, which then conducts a mapping process against a database of Chinese facilities that have publicly available real-time monitoring, Kurt Kipka, senior project manager for NRDC’s Responsible Sourcing Initiative, told Environmental Leader.

Working Capital, an early-stage venture fund, launched today with the goal of accelerating supply chain innovations to enable corporations to operate more transparently and ethically around the world. It was founded by Humanity United, a foundation that is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of organizations, each guided by its own approach, but united by a common desire to catalyze social impact.

EcoVadis's insight:

Great bold move, how are you fighting against slavery in your supply chain?

Although it seems that corporates are catching on to the importance of engaging their suppliers on climate issues, that message isn't being passed down to the next tier of the supply chain. "Despite unprecedented disclosure, only 23 per cent of supplier organisations that responded to the 2017 CDP supply chain questionnaire report engaging on climate with their supply chains,"

EcoVadis's insight:

Both corporates and their immediate suppliers must redouble their efforts to ensure that the business opportunities associated with carbon and water savings are felt throughout the entire supply chain.

Making the global economy more circular—or ‘closing the circularity gap’ as the report calls it—would not only lead to more efficient resource use, but also help address climate change and help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report said.

EcoVadis's insight:

Ultimately, everyone needs to get on board with circular economy efforts or risk incurring a heavy environmental and social cost.

Because blockchain is ideal for virtually any kind of records management activity, it has the potential to become the backbone tracking architecture for an evolving and fully transparent grid of digitized assets, documents and transactions. This transparency will have a transformative impact (http://nnw.fm/gSj9h) on everything from regulatory compliance to more efficient multi-company collaboration on projects.

In 2017, the pace of innovation picked up traction at a rate that has never been seen before. With IoT, AI, Blockchain and other exciting tech all developing rapidly, everyone across the industry is talking about how the new technologies barrelling towards us are going to impact the supply chain. Changing demand from customers and innovative strategies also play a hand in the industry of the future. But what trends are set to disrupt the supply chain in 2018?

74% of supply chain companies have experienced supply chain disruption at least once, based on a recent Business Continuity Institute study. A similar number of respondents (72%) admitted to not having full visibility of their supply chain. L

The move forms part of M&S’s strategy to create a “single-tier” clothing and homeware distribution network, where products from suppliers go directly to warehouses and then straight to stores, which means the retailer only moves products once.

“We’re honored to be recognized by Newsweek for our sustainability practices, as these touch every aspect of our business,” said Danielle Azoulay, Assistant VP of CSR & Sustainability at L’Oréal USA. “Sustainability drives our research and innovation in exciting ways and reinforces our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we operate. We’re continuously pushing ourselves to innovate, produce and develop more sustainably while also helping to empower our customers to make more sustainable choices.”

EcoVadis's insight:

Congratulations to our client L’Oréal who came out on top, ranking as the top-performing global company and best performing personal products company!

Not only is Carlsberg one of over 300 companies to have signed up to Science-Based Targets, the methodology developed by CDP, WRI, WWF and the UN Global Compact to help companies align their emissions reduction plans with the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming below 2C.Carlsberg signed up to RE100 platform, which is organised by the Climate Group. Such collaboration will be crucial if Carlsberg is to meet its even more ambitious goal of reducing CO2 emissions through its entire supply chain, what it calls its “beer in hand” footprint, by 30% by 2030, against a testing 2015 baseline.

EcoVadis's insight:

This is very inspiring! How are you committing yourself to achieve zero-carbon emissions in your business and in your supply chain?

Palm oil comes from the fruit of certain palm trees, and Southeast Asia — particularly Malaysia and Indonesia — account for at least 80 percent of world supply. Cargill owns palm oil plantations in Indonesia, but as a palm oil refiner, manufacturer and trader, it buys from other plantations worldwide. Central America has become a significant source of palm oil over the past 25 years or so, and Guatemala is the region’s top palm oil exporter.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has urged the Government to do more to ensure the welfare of supply chain workers, following reports earlier this week of labour abuses at factories that supply British supermarkets.

ILO estimates suggest child labour declined by 30% between 2000 and 2012, but still 11% of the world’s children are in situations that deprive them of their right to go to school without interference from work.Many of these child labourers work within the fashion supply chain, making the textiles and garments to satisfy the demand of consumers in Europe, the US, and beyond.

While 94% of supply chain leaders say that digital transformation will fundamentally change supply chains in 2018, only 44% have a strategy ready. 66% of supply chain leaders say advanced supply chain analytics are critically important to their supply chain operations in the next 2 to 3 years

More than 40 million people are currently enslaved. Of this number, 70 per cent are trapped in forced labour, working unpaid in factories, risking their lives on fishing boats, dying as children in dilapidated mines and hidden so far down the supply chains of multinational companies that it is almost impossible to trace them. Yet there they are, locked in debt bondage or working for nothing, all in the desperate attempt to pay their masters back for the privilege of giving them work.

EcoVadis's insight:

How are you ensuring traceability of modern slavery in your supply chain?

The European market also presents an additional challenge that we have not faced in the US —it is a group of countries, rather than a single country, and buyers in each of these countries have their own unique needs for both local and global sourcing. However, NEO Network, and our broader suite of renewable energy and cleantech advisory services, provides support to buyers with energy load all over the world, so we are confident that this challenge is manageable, particularly given our established Energy & Sustainability Services group already active in Europe.

Consumers are increasingly putting their money behind sustainability, with Nielsen reporting 66 percent of global consumers are willing to pay more for products from companies they perceive as sustainable. This is forcing every industry to innovate in a way that makes transparency and sustainability permeate throughout the entire supply chain.

EcoVadis's insight:

Learn from the mistakes of others and count yourself out of the race to the bottom!

What will it take for major corporations to take climate risks seriously, making sustainability reporting a routine part of financial filings? The G20's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a global push by investors and companies to include information about these exposures in mainstream reports to regulators, is helping companies make that transition on a five-year implementation timeline.

EcoVadis's insight:

Supply chain is vulnerable to disruption from climate change - how are you measuring (and reporting) the risks?

Based on publicly available data from the Chinese government, IPE’s database and map provide real-time data and historical trends in air pollution emissions and wastewater discharge for nearly 15,000 major industrial facilities in China and access to environmental supervision records for over half a million more.

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